Antora: Difference between revisions

On 12 March 1557, Félipe I invaded the Réoran province of Marsabale with an army of almost 14,000 troops. This set off the Thirty Years’ Bloodshed, also known as the Conquista. Utilizing the newly-formed Kings’ Own Royal Arquebusiers, the Arranzic army was able to overrun the garrison of Marsabale and defeat them in the field. This left the province - consisting at the time of an estimated 150,000 people - at the complete mercy of Félipe I, who promptly ordered the city sacked, farms and estates plundered, and the plunder sent back to Avantana.

Félipe I earned his nickname, ‘the Bloody,’ from his treatment of the captured garrison troops. All of them had their hands removed and tongues cut out, to ‘never raise a hand against Casilló again nor speak ill of her name.’ They were then roped together and forced to march further into Réoran territory. Methods such as these were common by Arranzic forces during the Conquista, and had the three-fold effect of depriving Réal of fighting manpower, forcing them to spend resources taking care of the crippled soldiers, and delivering a harsh morale blow to any Réoran citizens that saw them.

Casilló was able to further conquer the neighboring Camplata and L’vontre provinces over the course of seven months before the armies of Réal were able to respond. The plunder gained from the conquest of Camplata was critically important to the Arranzic war effort; the Cathedral of Santa Verónica and the Camplata silver mines provided an estimated 200,000 Regnes in funding (approximately $400 million dollars today.) The amount of coin meant Félipe I stayed longer than intended in the area to consolidate his gains, allowing the armies of Duke Francesco de Palda and Count Javíer de Voco to catch him.

The Battle of Silver Fields was the first proper ordered battle between comparative armies during the Conquista, with 12,000 troops from Casillo and 15,000 from Réal. Though numbers, terrain familiarity, and positioning favored the Réorans, their morale was severely damaged by the blackpowder cannons and arquebusiers Félipe I had brought. The king had trained up a professional army for 7 years to get used to the weapons, while the mostly-conscripted troop of the Réoran nobles had never experienced such.

Though they sustained heavy losses while maneuvering, the Arranzic army eventually routed their enemies. The Duke and Count lost 3,000 men, with 8,000 captured, while King Félipe I lost 6,000 men, most to projectiles. While tactically a victory for Félipe I, the battle forced a strategic stalemate as he no longer possessed the forces to continue his swift attacks. This began the second period of the Conquista, which lasted from 1558 to 1575 CE.